Curses
by Rex Madison
Summary: When another tragedy befalls Athena, Kensou doesn't know what to do - until he learns something that may help him solve her problems for good. (Followup to Her Biggest Fan; last story in The Deal's continuity. Rated PG-13, except maybe for language.)


Notes

Alright, confession time, lol. The truth is, Botan 2 won the poll...after I broke the tie, that is ;) But before I could start it, this story just came _pouring_ out of me. (Don't worry, this didn't set it back much. I got through it pretty fast.) Botan 2 _is_ coming up next, though! I swear! ^^;

At any rate, this one has been a long time coming. It's not just the return of a fan-favorite character; it's not just the conclusion of the closest thing I have to a saga. It's also a bit of a...commentary, you could say, on my work so far. See if you can find the hidden meaning, lol. (Hint: it isn't hidden very _well_. :P) Still, this story isn't as, ah, _bitter_ as some of my other rantings and ravings, so it should still be a good read. If I do say so myself.

Note that you _may_ want to read the saga's earlier fics first. Not totally necessary, but certainly helpful :) If so, here's some links (remove the underscores):

www._fanfiction._net/s/12878907/1/The-Deal  
www._fanfiction._net/s/13077506/1/Power  
www._fanfiction._net/s/13195711/1/Her-Biggest-Fan

Hope you enjoy!

* * *

Curses

Sie Kensou was worried about his girlfriend.

Of course, Sie didn't have just any old girlfriend. She also happened to be a world-famous idol, with all the baggage that entailed - _and_ a Psycho Soldier, with all the baggage _that_ entailed. But Athena Asamiya was still a human being, and she got stressed out and insecure like everyone else. And those feelings had gotten a lot stronger since the two of them had started going out.

(He tried _desperately_ to tell himself he wasn't the cause.)

Granted, she'd been great at first. She'd been even more happy and energetic than usual, and she'd wanted to spend all the time with him she could. ...but then came the kidnapping incident, where she'd experienced several serious traumas at once. She'd bounced back quickly for the most part - but she'd also started having moody spells, both angry _and_ sad, and her outlook on life had gotten a little less rosy. And the assault had stayed fresh in her _subconscious_ mind for a month; she'd woken him up most nights with her sobbing.

Finally the nightmares had died down, along with her moodiness. But she'd seemed to retain her bleaker outlook on things - especially things she'd already hated, like evil and corruption and fan mail. Which had eventually led to the _next_ incident, where an innocent request from a dying girl had nearly ruined Athena's life. Of course, it would've been much worse if she'd been able to _do_ it...but the failure had still hurt badly, adding some hopelessness and despair to her growing disdain. Her cheerful public image became hard for her to keep up, and she rarely bothered to with Sie or the rest of her teammates.

Things weren't starting off so hot today, either. They'd had a morning training session, and Athena's attitude had started to seep into her work. She'd kept missing easy blocks and counters, failing to manifest her powers. Chin was sympathetic, but still irritated - not just that she was slipping, but that he didn't know how to fix it.

Now she and Sie were heading back to her apartment, because on top of everything else she'd left her phone at home. Sie tried to comfort her, even held her hand on the way to her door...but her grip was tense, her steps nervous and fast. She clearly expected to find about a thousand missed calls, each of them telling her "Call back right now or we're through!".

When she got the door open, though, she found something else entirely.

"...what...?" Athena stepped into her apartment, staring in open-mouthed shock. The whole place was torn apart. Her mattress was upended, the sheets and pillowcases torn. Every drawer of her desk was open, the contents littering the ground. Her cabinets were ajar; her laundry was scattered to and fro. And her wardrobe was stripped bare, most of her clothes lying on the floor in a heap.

The rest of them were gone.  
Along with her television, and her computer, and her movies and music and jewelry and everything else of value she could remember.

"No," she whispered, her eyes already glistening. She walked numbly to her desk and put her hands on it, feeling where her PC had been. She looked behind it at the wall; nothing was left plugged in. They'd taken it all. They'd taken _everything_. They'd taken her freaking _mousepad_. She leaned on her hands, eyes closed, teardrops falling on the desk. _That was a GIFT, goddamnit...‼_

"Oh, _Athena_," Sie said softly. "I - "

And then her head snapped bolt upright, her eyes widening to saucers.

She Teleported to her nightstand, then let out a high-pitched mewl. She looked behind it; she looked around it. She flung the drawer open wide, rummaging through what little wasn't strewn on the floor. Then she stood up and threw her bedside lamp into the wall. "_Fuck‼_"

"What!? What's the matter⁇" Sie cried, rushing to her.

"They got my phone, Sie," she told him, her expression utter horror. "_They have my phone._"

Kensou cringed. "Aw, jeez...I'm sorry, Ath - "

"_Gimme yours._" Athena reached for him, started rifling through his pockets. "I have to disable it, _now_."

"Whoa whoa whoa! Here!" Sie exclaimed, handing it off to her. "But...is this really the time for that? We've gotta call - "

"Sie, do you remember the photos you sent me last week?"

His brow furrowed. "Yeees..." But then his eyes widened too, as it hit him.

"The ones where you were _naked_, and doing those poses?"

"...oh crap."

"And the photos I sent _back to you_, where I was doing the _same thing_⁇"

"Holy shit," Kensou mumbled. "B-b-but - isn't it all on the Cloud?"

"Of _course_ it's not on the Cloud!" Athena snapped, her fingers tapping frantically. "Keeping nude photos online is the stupidest thing a celebrity can do! Hackers are everywhere, and they _love_ scandals. It's better to save them on the phone's memory...until you _leave it at home_ for three hours and your _house gets robbed_‼"

"Babe, _please_, calm - "

"Hold on...hold on..._there_," she sighed, her tension draining in a flash. "It's dead now; they're locked up tight. And they're encrypted, too...I think." Then her eyes closed again. "...but the last sign-in was _three hours_ ago. I don't even know if it was me."

"Hmm." Kensou held his chin. "Well, when did we - "

But that was as far as he got, as she rushed him and buried her face in his chest.

"...why? Why, Sie?" she whispered. "Why do these things keep happening to me? ...am I being punished? Did I do something wrong? Have the stars aligned against me? ...or was this my fate all along...?"

"Honey..."

"It's like there's a _curse_ on me," she whimpered. "I can't fight or use my powers...my sales are down, I'm getting called 'third-rate'...I get kidnapped, tortured, almost raped - I break my own heart, cause I'm so weak and pathetic - "

"Athena - "

"And now there's gonna be _nude pics_ of me online! _Real_ ones, this time‼ Oh, Sie...!" She collapsed in sobs against his chest, her makeup staining his shirt.

This time Sie didn't say anything, just holding her close and pretending to be her rock. But in truth, he was just as miserable as she was. She wanted to know what had caused this? _He_ had. _He_ was her curse. It was what he'd always feared in the back of his mind: them getting together was the best thing that could've happened to him - but the _worst_ thing that could've happened to her.

Finally, and a little abruptly, she stopped. "You...you're right, Sie. We need to call the police. ...can you do it, please? I'd like to freshen up."

_Good idea_ flashed through his mind; her mascara was a mess (almost as bad as his shirt). But he just nodded, and called them, and gave them the information they needed. Once they had it, they said they'd be over shortly; he was about to tell her so when he heard a sharp yelp.

"Huh? Athena⁇" He dashed over to the bathroom door - then, thinking twice, knocked on it. "You okay, honey? Can I come in?"

"Yeah," she called back, sounding annoyed rather than hurt. He opened the door to find her rubbing her eyebrow, as if it had been stung.

"What happened?"

"It's nothing, don't worry," Athena sighed. "Just almost stabbed myself in the eye, that's all."

"Huh? How⁇"

"With this," she said, picking up what looked like an ordinary pencil. Kensou looked the question at her, and she rolled her eyes. "It's an _eyebrow_ pencil. Makeup, remember? Only this one's tip is razor-sharp, so you cut yourself if you try to use it."

"And why...?"

"Am I using a razor on my eye?" Athena let out a grim chuckle. "You can thank Mignon for that one."

Kensou froze.

"...Mignon...?"

"Yeah. Your crazy ex-girlfriend, remember?" she teased. "She slipped it into my bag the other day, and I put it right back in like a moron. She's been pulling stupid pranks like this ever since you left her. Not much, just once or twice a month...but enough to remind me she's there."

"Why haven't you told me⁇" Sie exclaimed.

"Because they're just stupid pranks. That sneezing powder thing was probably the _worst_ one. I didn't even cut myself this time, see?" she told him, showing him her dry hand. "Trust me, Sie: I've got a lot more to worry about than Mignon."

_Wanna bet?_ thought Sie, barely containing his rage.

"Uhhh...I'm gonna go outside a sec, okay? Talk to the neighbors and such."

"Good idea," said Athena, going back to her makeup. "...two-to-one they don't know anything, though."

"We'll see," said Sie, backing away. Then he walked out of the bathroom, out the door, and outside the apartment. From there he paced down the hall for a bit...then started running, _growling_, his fist reared back, and when he got to the brick wall at the end he punched it so hard he made a dent.

"_Motherfucker,_" he snarled, his voice like acid. Athena had no idea how wrong she was. She knew Mignon was out to get her, but that's _all_ she knew; she and Sie hadn't discussed her much (for obvious reasons). She didn't know Mignon practiced martial arts, too. She didn't know about her serious side, her plans, her hopes, her dreams.

And she didn't know Mignon could use magic.

Apparently he wasn't the source of Athena's troubles after all. That honor belonged to Mignon, the silly little girl who'd promised she wouldn't "go for the throat". _Oh, no, she didn't do that. She just used some evil spell to ruin her entire life, that's all._ How many of Athena's misfortunes had she caused? The burglary? The kidnapping? The letter from the dying girl⁇

Seething, Kensou took out his phone. He pulled up the contact list, went to the entry he should've deleted long ago. He clicked on it and hit the call button, his fingers trembling as he did so. The phone rang a couple of times...then, thankfully, she answered.

"Kensou-benzo⁇ Is that you!?" she squealed in English, trying to be cute.

"Yeah, it's me," said Sie, laughing a bit. In one of his brighter moments, he'd realized the direct approach wouldn't work; he needed to trick her the way that she'd tricked them. "So how've you been?"

"Mignon's been pretty good," she said coyly...but then she got right to it. "Does this mean you've left that bubbleheaded bimbo of yours⁇"

"...not quite," he told her, grinding his teeth. "I _did_ want to talk to you, though. You know, catch up? Is that okay?"

"Mignon can do that!" she agreed. "Will you be coming to Tokyo soon?"

"No, but I was thinking we could meet halfway. How about the Allgood Cafe in Nagoya?" It was almost right between them, and Mignon _loved_ quirky American stuff.

"Ohh, that's a pretty long drive," she pouted. "...but it's okay, you're worth it! So how about when?"

"Would tonight work?"

This had been the toughest part of Kensou's spur-of-the-moment plan. He couldn't leave Athena like this; she'd need someone now more than ever. But he couldn't give Mignon time to catch on and beg off. So he'd stay until the police were gone, then call Chin. From there he'd think up some excuse and go, leaving Athena in her master's care.

"Music to Mignon's ears!" she chirped, thank goodness. "Seven o'clock, yeah?"

"Sounds good." They should be done by then.

"Okay, see you there! Byyyeeeeee~"

"Byeee~" Kensou said - and quickly dropped the phone, so he wouldn't crush it in his bare hand.

_Get ready for the night of your life, Mignon...and maybe your death, too._

* * *

His half-baked plan just barely worked out. The police stayed with Athena for quite a while, gathering the evidence and counting up losses. She didn't help matters by breaking down a couple times. When they finally left, Sie called Chin almost immediately, thinking up his excuse even as they spoke. Chin got there in twenty minutes by JapanTaxi; Sie left about five minutes later, saying he was going to get Athena a gift. (She wished he would stay, but didn't put up a fight about it.)

He got to the distant restaurant with no time to spare, wearing his trademark blue jacket over a maroon shirt and black trousers. When he reached the counter, he asked the maitre D' if "a girl with pink hair" had beaten him. She had, so the man escorted Sie to her table, near the back of the restaurant. Kensou spotted her first, sitting with her back to the door...and wearing her costume the same way she had at the end of their date.

_Ohhh, you bitch,_ he growled to himself. He managed to keep it off his face, though, as he walked into her view. "Hey, Mignon!" he greeted - and her eyes lit up.

"You're here, you're here!" Mignon gushed, jumping up and wrapping her arms around him (and scaring the hell out of the maitre D'). "Mignon's _so_ happy to see you!"

"H-hey now," Sie faltered. "We're just catching up, remember...?"

"Alright, alright." She backed off, smirked, and shook his hand. "A pleasure to see you again, sir," she mocked.

"And to you," he snarked back, rolling his eyes. They were already back to smiles, though, by the time they'd taken their seats. The maitre D' told them he'd call for a waiter, then scurried off.

"So what've you been up to these days?" Sie opened casually.

"Ehh, nothing much," Mignon answered, shrugging. Then she grinned and added, "Mignon knows _you've_ been up to stuff though! Galavanting around Japan with your _prize_... Or are you _hers_, hee-hee~?"

"Both," he said with a smile.

"You haven't even gone back to China yet," she pointed out. "What's up with that?"

"We've just been busy," Kensou lied, not giving her the satisfaction of knowing Athena hadn't had it in her. "C'mon, though - you've really been up to _nothing_? No training, no singing?"

"No, not really," she giggled.

"And how about magic...?"

Mignon blushed.

"...yeah, Mignon's learned a _couple_ things," she admitted.

"Oh yeah? Like what?"

"Well...she can't really tell you," she said nervously. _Bingo._ "Top-secret. Hush-hush. ...there is _one_ she can show you, though! Wanna see?"

"Nah, that's okay," Sie declined, not _about_ to take _that_ risk.

Soon after, the waiter arrived for their drink orders. Kensou ordered some green tea; Mignon ordered Coca-Cola. The cute, quirky way she said it made Sie so sick he decided it was go time. He knew he should've waited longer, but he didn't have it in him.

The second the waiter was gone, Sie pounced. Without warning, an unseen force took hold of Mignon's neck, squeezing it. It took the rest of her head, too, keeping it from moving an inch. Her eyes wide, she moved her hands up to her throat - and then it had them, too, freezing them in midair.

"Quiet or I'll kill you," Kensou hissed.

"Wha-? Why-!?" Mignon gasped (quietly).

"I know you laid a curse on Athena," he muttered darkly. "You're going to tell me what it's done, or I'll kill you. Then you're going to remove it, or I'll kill you. And if I find out you lied, I won't _kill_ you - I'll expose magic to the world. Then you and your whole wizard family can deal with _that_. Got it?"

"Okay, okay!" she croaked.

"Good," he said, and let her go.

Once she caught her breath, though, Mignon surprised him with a scowl. "You know I could've stopped you at any time," she snapped, her voice back in Serious Japanese mode. Then she proved it by narrowing her eyes - and conjuring a burst of concentrated wind, briefly lifting her side of the table. "You're not the _only_ one who doesn't have to move to use their powers."

"...oh," said Kensou, feeling sheepish. _So much for the tough guy routine._ "Then why didn't you?"

"Because you weren't hurting me - and because _I didn't do it_."

"Bullshit."

"_No_ bullshit. I didn't 'lay a curse' on Athena. I haven't used _any_ magic on her; I've just been having a little fun. Not to mention that 'curses' don't even exist."

"Why should I trust you...?" Sie asked, narrowing _his_ eyes.

"I dunno, maybe because you could _expose magic to the world_?" Mignon huffed. "That's the only threat of yours that was actually any good."

_...huh. She has a point there..._

Around that time, the waiter brought back their drinks. They barely acknowledged him, only telling him they needed more time. Then he was gone, and this time _Mignon_ pounced. "You ass! You call me pretending to be a friend, and then you come here and _attack_ me!"

"Well what am I supposed to do, huh?" Sie retorted. "You tell _me_ you can use magic...you tell _her_ you're out to get her...then the sky starts falling on her, and I'm supposed to believe you're innocent⁇"

"What do you mean 'the sky's falling'? I haven't heard anything like that."

So he told her. She didn't know about any of it, she claimed...except for the slipping music sales, which she'd read about online and hadn't minded one bit. Still, by the end she felt pretty bad for her rival too. "They even got her phone? That's awful..."

"You don't know the half of it," Sie mumbled. He wasn't about to _tell_ her, either. "You can see how that's a lot though, right? If you didn't do it to her, what did?"

"...well...I mean...what makes you think _anything_ did?"

He gave her a deadpan look.

"I'm serious, Sie. Sometimes bad things happen to people. It's a part of life, a part of everyone's story. And it can change our whole mindset. When life is going great, we tend to focus on the great things. When it's going bad, it's the bad things that stick out more."

"Not much 'great' going on for Athena right now," grumbled Kensou.

"Oh, really?" Mignon folded her hands. "...she still has _you_, doesn't she?"

He blinked. "Um. Well...yeah, but - "

"And did you know the Japan Record Awards have her on the short list for Lifetime Achievement?"

Now Sie _stared_. "...really?"

"Yes, really," said Mignon, smirking again. "Ask her, when you get home. Pretty quick for someone to earn that, isn't it?"

"Yeah...I _think_ so..."

"You didn't hear about it because that wasn't a _story_. Not to her, not right now at least. She's too focused on the bad things, because _they're_ the _big_ stories. Once the big stories get better, you'll hear about the good things more." Then she grinned. "Probably a lot more, since you're her boyfriend and all."

Kensou scoffed, crossing his arms and looking away. He thought about what she said, tried to poke holes in it...and couldn't. (And she _still_ hadn't tampered with his mind. He'd checked.) Still, it just seemed so damn _unlikely_. Athena's life falls apart, and someone who hates Athena and _knows magic_ isn't responsible...?

Then Mignon put her hand on his arm.

"Sie," she said, sensing his doubt. "I don't _like_ Athena, but I don't want to _ruin_ her. And I _do_ like you. And I don't want to see you hurt." She smiled at him; after a moment, he couldn't help but smile back.

...then she went back to the smirk. "Unless _she's_ hurting you, of course. And you break up. Mignon wouldn't mind that at _all_."

"Har, har," Kensou snarked...but he didn't stop smiling.

They decided to call off dinner. It was getting late, and it would've been awkward anyway. Once they paid for their drinks, Kensou called a cab for home, while Mignon had her driver pull the car around. As they waited, Kensou asked, "So...can I ask one more question?"

"Hmm?"

"Got any gift ideas for Athena that would take two hours to get...?"

* * *

She did not. He wound up getting a giant teddy bear. Athena didn't appreciate it much.

On the other hand, he did tell her he saw in a newspaper that she was up for a Lifetime Achievement award. And it was true, she'd gotten the notice last week. Sie and Chin congratulated her, but she brushed it off, also true to Mignon's word. (In fact, she'd taken it as a _bad_ thing - an omen that her 'achievements' were over.) But Kensou kicked his enthusiasm into overdrive, and after a while it proved contagious. She actually went to sleep smiling, snuggled up next to Sie...after he gave her the kind of treatment a Lifetime Achiever truly deserved.

The next morning, though, his phone's ringtone startled her awake. She got up, looked over at it...and then her eyes went wide.

"Sie? Sie - what the hell⁇"

"mnuh...wha, huh?"

"_Mignon Beart_ is calling you!"

_That_ woke him up pretty quick.

"Ugh, are you serious? What's wrong with her⁇" (He wasn't joking, either. What was she, an idiot?) "Gimme that." He clicked the call on, put the phone to his ear and answered, "What the hell do _you_ want⁇"

"...Athena's there, isn't she?"

"Yeah, exactly!" Kensou "snapped". She was smart enough to pick _that_ up, at least.

"Okay, I won't keep you - but we need to talk later. It turns out curses _are_ real."

"Wha...?" Then he remembered his role. "...what're you _talking_ about⁇"

"I asked my sister about it; she's better at magic than me. She didn't _do_ it, but she said it's possible. Call me, alright?"

"No, it is _not_ alright! I'll call you when I feel like - which is _never_! _Goodbye_, Mignon‼" Sie hung up the phone in disgust.

"...what was that?" Athena asked skeptically.

"Ugh, she wanted to get back together!" said Sie, trying not to sweat. "I don't know why she's trying _now_. She's _never_ called before."

"Really?"

"No, never."

"...can I see?"

Kensou blinked.

"...uh, sure," he told her, handing over the phone. (Thank _god_ he'd decided to delete last night's call from his logs.) "This won't become a _habit_, though, will it...?"

"Well let's see." Athena brought up Mignon's contact, pulled up the history - and sighed. No calls to her or from her in months. "Nope, sure won't. ...oh, Sie... I'm so sorry I doubted you."

"Hey, I get it," Kensou soothed, holding her close. "She _did_ kinda almost tear us apart. ...but she kinda brought us together too, you know?"

"...after she almost tore us apart."

"Well it sure did work out well in the end." He smiled at her; she tried to smile back, but couldn't quite manage it.

* * *

The call took all the wind out of Athena's sails. She barely spoke to Sie as she got dressed for the day, shrugging on a gray sweatshirt and jeans and applying minimal makeup. Then she left for her agency without a word, not even stopping to kiss him goodbye.

In a cold sweat, Kensou called Mignon and got the rest of the story. It turned out that unlike her, her sister Ninon was studying _dark_ magic - and she took those studies _very_ seriously. According to her, curses were a forbidden and mostly lost art, but a few still existed today. She'd denied using one on Athena - "Ninon doesn't like me much anyway", Mignon assured him - but she wasn't the only dark witch in the area.

Luckily, _detecting_ curses was easy. Mignon had learned the simple spell overnight, and she was willing to use it on Athena just to prove Kensou wrong. Kensou could hardly schedule a _meeting_ between them - but Athena had a long day at the agency, and the cafeteria there sucked. She'd most likely grab lunch from the vending machines and eat outside in the nearby park. Sie asked Mignon to come there and test her in secret, and Mignon (reluctantly) agreed.

A few hours later, Sie was there - and in a panic. Athena had indeed taken lunch outside, but that was twenty minutes ago; Mignon was supposed to meet him before she even got out there. _Where is she⁇_ he thought frantically, looking back and forth. Athena would go back inside soon, and their chance would be lost...

Finally, the same sleek black car from last night rounded the corner. Ironically it passed right in front of Athena, but didn't catch her attention. Instead it pulled up to the other side of the park, and Kensou jogged over to meet it as Mignon got out. "Where've you been⁇" he called (but quietly; he also kept a line of high bushes between him and their target).

"It's a _really_ long drive, okay!?" she shot back as she met him. "And the driver thought there'd be a lot less traffic! ...he's about to be a lot less _employed_..."

"Save the vengeance for later, okay? Now c'mon‼"

She followed Sie as he jogged back to Athena, slowing down to a creep as he approached her. He stopped close up enough to look through the bushes, but far away enough to stay hidden. "Do you see her?" he whispered.

Mignon shifted a bit, trying to see through the leaves. Soon enough she found her, sitting slumped over on a park bench and stuffing potato chips into her mouth. "Yeah, I see her. She, ah...she looks pretty miserable." (She didn't seem to know whether to smile or frown.)

"Just do it!" Sie hissed.

"Alright, alright." Mignon collected herself, took a breath, and let the magic fly.

This time she _did_ need to move, her fingers flexing in a kind of feeling-out process. She also closed her eyes, cutting off her main sense to focus on the new one as much as possible. She could tell pretty quickly there were no traces of dark magic; a moment later, she knew there was no magic there, period.

"She's clean," Mignon said quietly, smiling a bit. "...told ya she wasn't cursed."

"_Dammit,_" Kensou swore, surprising her. As she raised her eyebrow at him, he asked, "Then what _is_ she...?"

"She's living a _normal life_," Mignon insisted. "These things can happen to everyone."

"No. I won't accept it," said Kensou, shaking his head at her. "For Athena, 'normal' is happy. Stupidly, _relentlessly_ happy. It's not eating potato chips in a sweatshirt and looking half-dead. _Something_'s going on."

"I'm telling you, it's all in her head. She won't be happy again until she _wants_ to be. ...or maybe at all, if she keeps obsessing like this."

"Hey, I had her happy as a clam last night." (Serious Mode or not, Mignon couldn't help but blush.) "But _now_ look at her. She's - "

Then he looked at her, and realized she was no longer there.

_...huh? Where'd she go?_ He looked around through the bushes; he looked at the path back to the agency. Nothing. Did she Teleport? Had she spotted -

"Oh, Sie..."

Sie and Mignon whipped around to find Athena behind them, tears already streaming down her cheeks.

"...Ath - _Athena!_" Sie cried. "This...this isn't what it looks like!"

"I know what it is," said Athena, not sounding bitter - just sad. "You and your real girlfriend came to laugh at me. Because I'm so weak and pathetic."

"What!? _No!_ I would never - "

"It's just as well, anyway," she cut off, her voice quivering. "I _am_ pathetic. I could never make you happy. ...I hope you two have a good life together." Sniffling, she turned and started walking away.

"Athena‼" Kensou cried...but that just made her Teleport. Now _he_ broke down in tears, reaching out to his love as he watched her streak out of his life -

"_Wait‼_"

She actually stopped, though she didn't turn around or speak.

"Mignon can't take it, okay!? She confesses! Sie was right!"

Kensou looked back at Mignon in shock.

"Sie and Mignon weren't here on a date," she said, sounding close to tears herself. "He caught her in the act. She's been...cursing you."

"...what're you talking about?" asked Athena, slowly turning towards her.

"Kensou prolly never told you...but magic is real. It's a real thing, just like your powers. And Mignon can _do_ it, too. And she - "

"You've been _cursing me_⁇" she shouted, her aura already flaring.

"Yes," Mignon whimpered. "Mignon wanted to keep you down, and this was the best way to do it. But she's _sorry_! Very sorry! She'll never do it again...!"

"You're _damn right_ she won't‼" Athena screamed, leaping into the air. She charged an Athena Explosion in about half a second and sent it for Mignon's neck -

\- and Kensou intercepted it with a Senki Hakkei, detonating the energy blast harmlessly.

"...Sie. _What the hell,_" she growled as she landed.

(Mignon, meanwhile, seemed offended. "Out of the way, Sie. I can handle this."

"_No_, you can't," Kensou muttered. Athena could Teleport in and cut her brainstem at any time.)

"Didn't you hear her, Sie!?" she screamed. "There _has_ been a curse on me! And it's her fault‼"

"Yeah, I know!" he yelled back. "And now she has to _lift_ it‼"

Athena blinked, her aura dimming to a dull roar.

"This is no ordinary curse," Kensou claimed, and now _Mignon_ was staring at _him_. "It has to be renewed every month or so. That's why she was out here today - and she's already done it! Take her out now and you'll be cursed for another month!"

"...hehehe. That's right!" Mignon played along. She crossed her arms and put on a grin. "And if you want Mignon to lift it, you better be good to her~!"

"Or I could torture you," Athena growled, creating a Psycho Sword blade and holding it in front of her. (Mignon shivered in spite of herself.)

"No, Athena. This ends here," said Kensou firmly. "You're going to break the curse, Mignon...and then you'll leave us alone, and we'll do the same. And if you don't...we'll expose magic to the world. Then you and your whole wizard family can deal with _that_. Got it?"

"Okay, okay!" she croaked (with an odd sense of deja vu).

"Alright then." Kensou stepped out from between them and motioned for her to begin.

Mignon made quite a show of "breaking the curse". She waved her hands; she chanted; she even gave Athena a healthy white glow. Then it faded, and she stopped moving and nodded. "...there. It's done."

"Good. Now get out of here. Don't ever come near us again."

"Okay. ...goodbye, Sie." Mignon turned tail and ran.

Meanwhile, Athena was still shaking. "...so we just let her get away with this...!?" she seethed.

"And end the feud," Sie pointed out. "Mess with her now, and who knows what'll happen."

"Unless I kill her," she said grimly.

"And then you're a murderer," he countered. "And you won't _ever_ be that."

"...no, I won't," she sighed, her aura finally fading away.

"The important thing is, you've got your life back. Your misery had a _source_ \- and it's gone."

"It is, isn't it...?" Athena began to smile as she considered it. "...my time in hell is over. I'm _free_. I'm free...!"

Then, as if on cue, several police cars rounded the corner, sirens flashing.

"...well, maybe not quite yet," Sie replied with a smirk.

* * *

After reassuring the police - causing a massive explosion in a public park maybe wasn't her _wisest_ decision - Athena took the rest of the day off. She and Kensou used the time to celebrate her newfound freedom. They had _taiyaki_; they took a ride on the ferry; they did an ear cleaning together (she'd found a salon that could do it). After a nice dinner, they spent the night at Sie and Chin's place, which looked more like a home than Athena's at the moment. For Chin's sake, they didn't get frisky this time...but Athena went to sleep smiling just the same.

The next day, Kensou called Mignon one more time.

"Hello? Kensou?"

"Yeah, it's me. And don't worry, I'm alone."

"Ah, good. I'm glad to hear from you again."

"Well, I still had to thank you. You were incredible yesterday! Did you have that planned all along?"

"Nope! Spur of the moment~ You're pretty good at improv too, though. Thanks for saving my neck."

"Oh, you did _way_ more than I did. And for Athena, too; she's already feeling like her old self."

"There, you see? I told you, Sie: it's all about the mindset. She thinks things are looking up, so they will be. Just you wait."

"Heh. You saying we make our own luck...?"

"Oh, I wouldn't go _that_ far. Bad things are going to happen, no matter what. But if you can remember that there are _good_ things, too, you'll see that overall life is pretty okay."

"...are you reading from a self-help booklet or something?"

"No, but my sister talks about psychology all the time. She's such a know-it-all."

"Hah! Well in this case, at least, I think she's right."

"Yeah, me too. ...ugh - and speaking of, I'd better go. I hear her calling me for practice. I wish you the best of luck, Sie...but not Athena, hehe. She's already lucky enough, to have a guy like you."

"And she's lucky to have an _enemy_ like you."

"That's _rival_, Kensou. Don't forget it."

"Yes, ma'am. ...goodbye, Mignon."

"Goodbye, Kensou. ...all _right_, Ninon! Mignon's coming, Mignon's coming...!"

She hung up, and Kensou chuckled and followed suit. He deleted the call log, then the contact; he wouldn't be needing it again. But he wouldn't forget Mignon herself, the woman who'd twice nearly torn he and Athena apart - and twice made them come back stronger than ever.

* * *

End Notes

Anyone catch the "hidden" meaning there? :P (Don't worry if you didn't; hell, that may've made it a better _story_.)

With that, the Deal saga is over...but I'm sure not, lol. I've got way too many damn ideas for that. Botan 2, Gorgeous continued, The Dragon Spirit...maybe even KOF Couples Edition! (A non-Athena-centric fic for once, lol. ...or _would_ it be...?) Right now, the plan is...ah, screw it, why bother telling you the plan :P You know as well as I do it has _no_ bearing on what I'll do next.

See you next time!

* * *

Things _did_, in fact, get better for Athena after that.

Later that day, the police called her. They'd found the thieves, they said - and her valuables, too, neatly tucked away in a storage room until they could be fenced. Everything was still intact and practically untouched...including her phone. And when she unlocked it, she found no new uploads or messages whatsoever. Her pics were safe.

Later that _week_, her car broke down...but she didn't sweat it much.

The _next_ week, Athena Asamiya became the youngest recipient of the Japan Record Awards' Lifetime Achievement honors. She gave such an inspiring speech at the podium that it got media attention, putting her back in the spotlight once more. Her sales went up for a while, her concert attendance went up for _years_...and the publicity even led to her first big acting gig.

But that's a story for another day.


End file.
